Is it impossible to be a great actor if you are narcissistic? One argument goes like this: A great actor cannot be narcissistic because narcissistic people lack empathy. And to be a great actor you need to empathise with your character – perhaps quite powerfully. This means it’s not an optional ability or trait if you want to have a notable career on screen.
Wow this helps explain the contradiction I had noticed in Brando’s character that I was never able to articulate. The man could have great empathy and then shut it down. The fact that he may have been “protecting” himself from any kind of vulnerability makes perfect sense considering his background and behaviour. I always could tell his care for minorities was genuine(James Baldwin’s impression of him is very telling if you haven’t read it) but when it came to women he was callous. On the other hand he seems to not have so much trouble with his male partners but infinite problems with his directors. I wonder if you could explain that. Either way it was a wonder read. Thank you.
Thanks Sarah. Yes big questions that I find very interesting. Difficult to answer without being able to ask the man about the nature of his relationships in some detail. Directors had authority over him and the privilege of being able to criticise - always difficult for someone with narcissistic difficulties. In his relationships with male partners, was he he director? Was there admiration delight in place of criticism? This might have been his safest place? With women partners perhaps something more intimately vulnerable (and related more to his mother perhaps) that he might wish for and then suddenly find unsafe - not unsafe in reality perhaps but in his feeling about it - the reminders of unsafe vulnerability of the past. A very interesting man wit such strengths and such weaknesses.
Interesting piece on narcissism and actors. It appears there are two poles: the narcissist and the empathic. My wager is that the most narcissistic are “b list” and the most empathic (Adam Driver, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Robin Williams, Keanu Reeves) all known for their kindness and humble touch with the public are the most masterful and there for the art not the admiration. Let’s not forget that all humans have some narcissism according to Kohut and Kernberg. It isn’t a “kind of person” set in stone or a labeled box.
Thanks Dr Paul. In support of your hypothesis, i think the Young and Pinsky research i mentioned found that highest scores for narcissism came from reality tv celebrities.
Well this makes great sense: B-list. Now I understand why I refused to be the Bachelor 20 yrs ago and glad I did. Didn't miss "fame" a bit, and I feel shedding that temptation to be very beneficial to enjoying life.
Im intrigued that you call yourself a non-expert but get to read something about grief by a narcissistic psychopath!? Yes I also think that someone can be narcissistic and be a great actor. Hopefully that came through.
I’m not sure about acting though because the most extreme narcissists, I understand, can excel in cognitive empathy and often appear as indistinguishable from someone possessing genuine emotional empathy. Indeed, I was reading something on grief recently written by a narcissistic psychopath and I was thinking that his depth of understanding and learned responses would probably offer more comfort to someone in grief than the average non-narcissist.
I can think of a couple of A listers right now who I’m pretty sure (as much as a non-expert can be, of course) have full NPD.
Wow this helps explain the contradiction I had noticed in Brando’s character that I was never able to articulate. The man could have great empathy and then shut it down. The fact that he may have been “protecting” himself from any kind of vulnerability makes perfect sense considering his background and behaviour. I always could tell his care for minorities was genuine(James Baldwin’s impression of him is very telling if you haven’t read it) but when it came to women he was callous. On the other hand he seems to not have so much trouble with his male partners but infinite problems with his directors. I wonder if you could explain that. Either way it was a wonder read. Thank you.
Thanks Sarah. Yes big questions that I find very interesting. Difficult to answer without being able to ask the man about the nature of his relationships in some detail. Directors had authority over him and the privilege of being able to criticise - always difficult for someone with narcissistic difficulties. In his relationships with male partners, was he he director? Was there admiration delight in place of criticism? This might have been his safest place? With women partners perhaps something more intimately vulnerable (and related more to his mother perhaps) that he might wish for and then suddenly find unsafe - not unsafe in reality perhaps but in his feeling about it - the reminders of unsafe vulnerability of the past. A very interesting man wit such strengths and such weaknesses.
Interesting piece on narcissism and actors. It appears there are two poles: the narcissist and the empathic. My wager is that the most narcissistic are “b list” and the most empathic (Adam Driver, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Robin Williams, Keanu Reeves) all known for their kindness and humble touch with the public are the most masterful and there for the art not the admiration. Let’s not forget that all humans have some narcissism according to Kohut and Kernberg. It isn’t a “kind of person” set in stone or a labeled box.
Thanks Dr Paul. In support of your hypothesis, i think the Young and Pinsky research i mentioned found that highest scores for narcissism came from reality tv celebrities.
Well this makes great sense: B-list. Now I understand why I refused to be the Bachelor 20 yrs ago and glad I did. Didn't miss "fame" a bit, and I feel shedding that temptation to be very beneficial to enjoying life.
Im intrigued that you call yourself a non-expert but get to read something about grief by a narcissistic psychopath!? Yes I also think that someone can be narcissistic and be a great actor. Hopefully that came through.
The Bachelor was an acting role in the film? Im intrigued though by Chaplin and Brando. Were they not true artists?
It’s an interesting discussion.
I’m not sure about acting though because the most extreme narcissists, I understand, can excel in cognitive empathy and often appear as indistinguishable from someone possessing genuine emotional empathy. Indeed, I was reading something on grief recently written by a narcissistic psychopath and I was thinking that his depth of understanding and learned responses would probably offer more comfort to someone in grief than the average non-narcissist.
I can think of a couple of A listers right now who I’m pretty sure (as much as a non-expert can be, of course) have full NPD.